Arachne - A Snowballs Chance in Hell [Jungle Build]

Hey folks. My name is Revelst0ke and this is my 2nd guide. My first guide for Hades was well received so I thought I'd give it another go round with my favorite six(?) legged sneak attack specialist - Arachne, the Weaver.

Let's get to it-

There are few things in Smite more infuriating than thinking you've gotten away from Arachne only to get dragged back by Cocoon. To turn a corner and find her waiting there, eggs laid in preparation for the kill and you futilely try to escape as the Broodlings nip and slow you down. Or to have the kill lined up, a near dead Arachne trying to flee only to turn 180, pounce on your face and gnash back to half health with Drain Life.

It is both a challenge and extremely rewarding and, aside from Loki, one of the most enjoyable characters to play once you get used to her. It's my hope this guide gets you comfortable with her and she becomes a regular for you, too.

Cheers-

Poison Claws

Poison Claws

Poison Claws is what really puts Arachne over the top early game. The passive applies a DOT to your basic attacks that scales to 15% of your physical power and ticks 6 times. It is re-applied every basic attack up to 3 stacks and will continue to tick while you slash away. While I don't advocate it, the damage this outputs at level 1 can, with red buff and elixir of physical strength, basically two-shot most squishies. It's a gamble, but worth noting. That aside, it's an excellent passive that can, and will, finish the job for you on many occasions. Don't neglect your basic attacks.

Broodlings

Awwww. Aren't they cute?

Broodlings is taken first and will be used to tank the jungle camps early game. By about 13 or 14 you can forgo the Broodlings if you wanted, but I don't see why you would. It's also worth noting that the little buggers slow. This is key for you early game to seal your kills but will require some tactical trickery to ensure you can get your opponent alone such that they attack your target and not random creeps. Is that all you say? Nope. Other amazingly awesome things to do with Broodlings.

• Drop 2 or 3 packs sort of away from Gold Fury so they don't hatch. Pull GF to eggs and proceed to solo GF. This can be done around 15, give or take how well you're doing. You'll want some lifesteal as well.
• Use them as wards. Yep, drop a pack of eggs, get a free ward. You may have up to 5 dropped at any time, and you rarely 'use' more than 1 or 2, so keep some lying around in case your opponent turns a corner too fast. Pinchy pinchy.
• Extra damage! Assuming you're fighting a 1:1, drop a pack of eggs and rope your opponent into them to ensure he sticks around. The little buggers will burst like facehuggers from Alien and proceed to feast on your target, slowing them, and doing fairly substantial damage. A lot of people ignore them due to their size and prioritize you over your Broodlings. This is an error that will often get them killed.

Drain Life

The !@$!#* ability everyone hates. Arachne will leap onto the face of her target and proceed to damage and self-heal for several seconds. She CAN be knocked off by stuns, knock ups, and taunts so keep that in mind. Using this ability well is what will define you as a good Arachne player or a bad one.

• Drain Life will silence your opponent. Use it at key times when you think your opponent is about to drop the hammer, or finish off an ally. Examples, Poseidons Release the Krakken, He-Bo's Crushing Wave, or Zeus Lightning Storm.
• Drain Life will heal you for a significant chunk of your health. Use it on a creep when jungling early to prevent having to back but don't use it right out of the gate when engaging an enemy God. You want to bait your opponent. Damage them first, lay on some stacks of your passive, let them think they've got you, then go for it.
• Drain Life takes your hands off the drivers wheel until the ability is over. This means your target can effectively walk your sorry spider butt into a tower or back to his friends in waiting. Be careful, plan ahead, and know what's around you.

Tangled Web

Tangled Web

Meh. I've never been like, "WOW! Thank God I use my web!". It's an alright ability but should be taken last. It can disrupt teamfights and can secure (sometimes...) fleeing targets but the slow doesn't scale very well at all. For the first point, you get 20%, then for each point thereafter you only get 5% up to a maximum of 40%. It really doesn't shine until late game, if shine at all.

Cocoon

There are very few God's in Smite that can physically displace their target. Fenrir's Ragnarok is one, Tyr's Fearless is another, and Arachne's Cocoon is the hands down winner.

At a ridiculously low cooldown of just 30 seconds you can fire this off and reach out and touch someone. The range is, in my opinion, actually longer than it appears so don't hesitate to fire it off even if you think they're out of range. You can use this for a number of key moves; snagging runners as they're trying to flee, pulling targets early game out of tower range into it then webbing them while they flee, or jungle guerrilla warfare. Lay a couple eggs outside range, wait for them to run by, then drag them back into the eggs and mop up your kill. It's worth noting it does have a 1sec stun attached which is nice and ignore creeps. It will ONLY target God's so fire away through ...well...whatever you want.

This will take some practice to use effectively. You will miss a lot at first as there is a brief 'windup' before it fires which can cause you to miss. Learn to lead your target and capitalize on their fear (most people will run in a straight line or strafe right to left). Learn their movements and how to predict and this will net you many kills.

So you've got the skill order. You've got the item build. But, how do I jungle you ask?

I'll assume you've played Conquest before and understand, at a basic minimum, where the camps are. The most recent map changed a few things but it is, overall, the same format. The following is my personal preference, some will recommend you start with blue, but I have had more success with the following. In each example below, you will want to place a pack of eggs, let them attack, then engage. Drop another if necessary.

Assuming your team is not eating your jungle, you will want to clear jungle camps in this order:

1. Middle Harpies (contest them with eggs if you can, you may need team support). The mid harpies should be killed first and foremost whenever they are up going forward.
2. Red Buff Camp (You will take red buff here)
3. Right Blue Buff Camp (Let your sidelane get this to help out early)
4. Right side small harpies
5. Left side small harpies
6. Orange Buff Camp (Ping when done, let left pick up your leftovers)
7. Left Blue Camp
8. Mid Harpies
9. Gank Middle
10. Back.

At ~4:20 the original red buff camp will respawn. Head back there and repeat the process, paying attention to your lanes and whos over-extended. If one of your lane partners backs (particularly the solo short lane), you will want to cover for them until they return.

- Early game (~10) I recommend picking up the red buff always.
- Mid game (10-15) I recommend switching to the speed buff to minimize time between ganks and to secure kills from runners
- Late game (15-20) I go back to red to maximize my physical power

What is a Snowball?

A frozen ball of ice and snow, duh?

Yes and no - sorry :)

A "Snowball" build, in a MOBA, is basically a build that, if done properly, "snowballs" into something that can easily overwhelm and dominate your opponent if left unchecked. This build intends to do just that and, while riskier than a "standard" jungle build, produces results.

Start of the Game

At the start of the game you will pick up level 1 Heartseeker and Bumba's Mask to facilitate your jungling.

Enter the Jungle

Start with the mid harpies/red (depending) and proceed to creep/jungle until you complete your Heartseeker.

When Heartseeker is done, pick up Devourer's Gloves next. At this point you should be building your stacks on your Heartseeker and the movement speed bonus practically makes up for the fact you have not purchased boots yet.

Once Devourer's Gloves is complete, you will again focus on building stacks on your gloves in addition to your HS. The two combined will put you well ahead of other carries/junglers (unless they're also building a snowball). These two items are the core of this build and will be the foundation of your snowball. Always get these first.

Once your core is out of the way you can pick up your boots. Arachne doesn't really have issues with cooldown so I usually grab Warrior Tabi for the penetration.

Next, we pick up Frostbound Hammer. Why? Arachne MUST continually attack her target for 2 key reasons. One, to apply stacks of her DOT and two, to self-heal by way of your gloves. The lifesteal combined with your Drain Life will keep you in the fight. Targets that are slippery, quick, or highly mobile will pose a problem and I prefer to pick up Frostbound to slow them, keep them in range, and ensure they can't get away. This is personal preference and can be swapped with Void Blade if you so chose/need the physical protection.

Next, we pick up Rage. The 30% critical chance combined with the attack speed and power are exactly what we need to really become a threat late game. Bigger criticals mean bigger lifesteals (its percentage based) and bigger hits of course means faster kills. Arachne is all about get in, damage, kill, and get out. She is EXTREMELY squishy if focused.

Finally, we pick up Deathbringer for the added critical, 50 physical power, and the hefty passive that will really make your criticals sting.

I personally (bad habit) tend not to use actives that much on Arachne. If I do, it's usually to counter something. Aegis to counter Poseidon, Curse to counter mobile ADC's, and so on. As a general rule Heavenly Agility is a good choice for her as it allows her to jungle faster, secure kills, and chase runners.

Pros

• Excellent damage potential. Very strong early game due to passive
• Excellent self heal potential from Drain Life, keeps her in the action longer
• Cocoon one of the few ultimates that can physically displace an enemy and can be used to initiate with ease once you get good with it
• Free wards! Drop an egg pack and let them guard the map for you
• Intimidating. Will throw people off their game when caught in the jungle more than most.

Cons

• Very squishy. You'll learn this fast.
• Very short range on her #2, must be basically in melee range. Can also accidentally target a creep if the enemy God is within the pack.
• Not the best in teamfights. Your rule is hit and run, get in/get out. You can't stand toe to toe in a teamfight very well
• Can fall behind late game if you do not secure kills early game
• No escape mechanism. If you get caught, you're on your own.

(8/20/13) - v1.0 Released